Machine for packing medical products and printing medical instructions for a nurse in a hospital environment

ABSTRACT

A packing machine comprising: a receiving unit for receiving packing material; a pulling unit capable of pulling the film by driving pulling cylinders at the front of machine; an unwinding unit capable of unwinding the packing film while keeping the proper film tension; a reading unit capable of reading a photocell mark included on one side of the film with a photocell reflexive device, and sending a signal to stop the film advance when the mark is read; a digital commercial printing device to print medical information; an opening unit to open each pouch by means of an air blow; a product dispenser capable of dispensing the product into the pouch passing through a dropping tube at the same time the mouth is open; and finally a sealing unit to seal the upper and lower part of the pouch, cutting with a serrated knife at the same time.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is generally related to a system through which it is possible to pack drugs and medical materials used in hospitals in different forms and presentations (pills, vials, syringes, etc.) in a pouch-like package and, at the same time, print on the front side thereof medical instructions to warn a nurse about the dangerousness or the way the medicine should be administered to a patient. The invention is, however, more particularly directed to a machine to be used in a hospital, to individually pack and identify drugs. At the same time, the system provides an economical and easy way to manage drugs and devices in a hospital.

2. Description of the Prior Art

There are several packing machines in the prior art for packing different types of products in bag-like packaging. In most of the cases, these machines are used to pack produce, food products, and the like. The prior art comprises packing machines of various products, used in diverse industrial sectors, for example food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, among others.

Conventionally, an automatic medicine packing machine is supplied with medicines such as tablets, capsules and the like from a plurality of cassette units, in which the medicines classified by their kinds are respectively accommodated, and are packed dose by dose in a continuous manner. The automatic medicine packing machine comprises a plurality of cassette units which are arranged in an upper portion of the main body of the automatic medicine packing machine and in which the medicines such as tablets, capsules and the like of which the sizes and shapes are different from each other are accommodated, a hopper disposed in a lower portion of the main body for collecting the medicines discharged and dropped from the cassette units, and a packing unit for packing the medicines collected by the hopper with packing paper.

In order to adapt the packing machine to the special needs of a hospital several changes are needed. There are no machines in the prior art capable of packing and printing medical instructions on one side of the package, for providing medical instructions to the nurse.

An automatic medicine packing machine having a shutter unit, which is disposed between cassette units arranged in an upper portion of a main body of the automatic medicine packing machine and a hopper arranged in a lower portion of the main body thereof is known and can temporarily suspend the discharged and dropped medicines, thereby improving the processing rate.

According to the conventional automatic medicine packing machine as configured above, the shutter unit is provided between the cassette units in the upper portion of the main body and the hopper in the lower portion thereof, thereby causing the packing rate of the medicines to be improved. However, it is not possible to pack and print different sizes of pills/medical devices like syringes and the like.

In the majority of the automatic medicine packing machines, it is just possible to pack medicines accommodated in a respective cassette unit. The use of regular hoppers or discharge passages makes it impossible to print and pack different products.

A packaging sheet printing method of an automatic medicine packaging machine in which a one-dimensional barcode is supplemented, restricted expression of information is prevented, and various information can be printed on a packaging sheet is also known. The method includes estimating a quantity of data to be printed on a packaging sheet of a medicine packet; comparing the estimated quantity of data with a reference quantity of data to determine whether the estimated quantity of data exceeds the reference quantity of data or not; selecting a one-dimensional barcode when the estimated quantity of data is equal to or less than the reference quantity of data, and a two-dimensional barcode when the estimated quantity of data exceeds the reference quantity of data; and printing the selected barcode and predetermined printing data on the front side of the packaging sheet of the medicine packet.

Another known alternative is a medicine packaging machine including an automatic feeder. The machine includes a medicine transferring and discharging unit to transfer medicines dispensed to a manual dispensing tray and to discharge dispensed medicines to a hopper, a sealing unit, a controlling unit to control the medicine transferring and discharging unit, the printer, and the sealing unit, a button manipulation unit to input a user command to the controlling unit, an upper shelf having a glass door and a discharge chute to communicate with the hopper, an automatic feeder to discharge the tablets to the discharge chute and having cassette supports and cassettes to accommodate tablets; and a user information input unit to input user information to the unit.

Another automatic medicine packing machine requires medicines packaged in the unit of a dose by automatically discharging the medicines medicine cassettes according to the prescription of a doctor or a pharmacist. A plurality of cassette magazines are drawn and installed at an upper body part of the automatic medicine packing machine. Each cassette magazine is provided at one side thereof with a shelf, in which a medicine cassette is arranged, and provided at an opposite side thereof with a passage member to guide the medicines discharged from the medicine cassette.

Even though the packing machines and systems of the art address some of the needs of the market, a new, safe, improved and economical packing machine is still desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to a packing machine especially designed to pack hospital supplies and at the same time print on one side of the packaging medical alerts or advice for the nurse.

In one general aspect of the present invention, the system to be used by hospitals to individually pack and identify different types and sizes of hospital supplies, including but not limited to, drugs, vials, syringes, etc.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a packing system that provides an automatic and semi-automatic packing of hospital supplies with high reliability at affordable prices.

Yet another aspect of the purposed invention comprises a packing system for individually packing and identifying drugs or the like and providing precise medical instructions for a nurse in a hospital environment, comprising a pouch-like pack on the front side thereof; a photocell mark may be included.

Some of the advantages of the present invention are:

-   -   a) PRODUCTIVITY: The machine in accordance with the present         invention packs more than 2,600 doses per hour. This high         capacity allows that the material that is received is then         packed. A 200-bed hospital can pack 40,000 ampoules and cut and         pack 40,000 tablets with a single operator, in a single shift.         It can, moreover, automatically pack other things, such as         vials, kits, large ampoules etc., and semi-automatically larger         products with manual insertion. The distribution disc allows a         50% increase in the packing productivity. The present machine         includes a feeding device that automatically feeds the vials         into the machine with no operator intervention in each cycle.     -   b) HOSPITAL SECURITY: the same packing machine prints a label to         communicate medical advice and alerts on the products to be         packed.     -   c) CONEXION WITH IT: the present machine allows a simple and         easy synchronization between the integrated management system of         the hospital and the machine's printer.     -   d) REDUCED NUMBER OF PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE MANUAL PACKING         PROCESS: the average speed of this manual packing process is 350         units per hour versus 2600 units per hour with one operator in         the present machine. A hospital with 200 beds packs         approximately 80,000 doses per month. Normally, 3 people are         needed to manually pack this amount with a single operator for         cutting the blister packs and packing the pills.     -   e) DECREASED DEVIATIONS OF THE INVENTORY: By having a large         packing capacity, the material may be packed the same day it is         received at the hospital. The average value of deviations of         inventory amounts to 3% of monthly purchases and happens in any         type of hospital. By using the present machine deviations         decrease to 0.2%.     -   f) REDUCTION IN DRUG ADMINISTRATION AND DISPENSING

ERRORS: It is estimated in the literature that one of every three drug administrations has some kind of error. It is important to assess the cost of each error. By providing precise medical instructions to the nurse, the administration errors drop dramatically.

In summary, the present invention is related to a machine for packing medical products and printing medical instructions for a nurse in a hospital environment, comprising a wheeled chassis on which the following units are installed:

-   -   a) a roll stock of pre-made pouches each of which includes a         photocell mark on one side thereof;     -   b) a receiving unit for receiving the roll of pouches and         placing it at a support able to unwind the roll stock;     -   c) a pulling unit capable of pulling from the roll of pouches by         driving pulling cylinders located at the front of machine;     -   d) an unwinding unit capable of unwinding the roll of pouches         while keeping the proper roll tension;     -   e) a reading unit capable of reading the photocell mark of the         pouches with a photocell reflexive device, and sending a signal         to stop the film advance when the mark is read;     -   f) a digital commercial printing device which uses thermal         transference technology to print with a ribbon printer, capable         of printing medical information of the material to be packed for         patient protection (codes, names of drugs, form of presentation,         designs, alerts, advice, among others);     -   g) an opening unit to open each pouch by means of an air blow;     -   h) a product dispenser capable of dispensing the product (a         drug, vial or a blister pack with the pill) into the pouch         passing through a dropping tube at the same time the mouth is         open; and finally     -   i) a sealing unit to seal the upper and lower part of the pouch,         cutting with a serrated knife at the same time.

These and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the attached drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings provided to illustrate and not to limit the invention, where like designations denote like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of the first embodiment of the packing machine in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a general schematic transversal view of the machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top plan view of the distribution disc and the roll stock. The remaining parts of the machine have been erased for clarity purposes.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the machine of FIG. 1 in accordance with A-A of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a cross section in accordance with B-B of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a general perspective view of the distribution disc used to dispense the product to be packed.

FIG. 7 shows different alternatives of packages that can be created with the packing machine in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of different rolls of pouches that can be used with the present packaging system; and finally:

FIG. 9 is a general perspective view of another alternative of the distribution disc used to dispense the product to be packed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF REPRESENTATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims. For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “rear”, “right”, “front”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in FIG. 1. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. It is also to be understood that the specific devices illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claim. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

Making reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the present packing machine 100 includes a chassis 101 (that supports all the elements of this equipment) and a set of wheels 102 that allows the easy transportation of this equipment, if required.

On the upper part the machine 100 a mounting axis 103 is included on which a roll 104 of pre-made pouches is installed. This is the material used to feed the machine as explained below.

As illustrated the present machine 100 includes several rubber rolls connected to pulling motors that help to move the pre-made pouches 104 through the different units. These are typical rubber rolls and motors and no novelty are presented. Therefore, they will not be described or illustrated in detail and only the most important parts of the machine 100 will be described and illustrated.

The pre-made pouches are pulled from the roll with a couple of pulling rolls 105-106 and a brake 107 is used to reverse movement of the material, if required. Then the material goes through the rubber rolls 108 and 109. When one of the faces of the pre-made pouches goes on the roll 109, the printing head 120 of the thermal transference printer 121 prints the information the nurse needs to avoid errors in the administration of the drug. Finally, rolls 110-111 pull the material to the final stage where a distribution and feeding disc 112 dispenses the material to be packed through a feeding tube 113 into each pouch. FIG. 1 illustrates in broken lines an operator feeding this disc 112 with the material to be packed. Once the material is in the pouch, then the package needs to be sealed. The sealing unit 114 with a rubber sealing jaw 115 and a cutting knife 116 accomplish the sealing process, cutting and separating the pouch from the original roll 104. This is also a very well-known procedure in the art.

The sealing unit 114 is operated by a motor 119 that drives a belt which drives a reducer which moves a cylindrical shaft 117 a linear bearing 118 on which the mechanism 114 is mounted.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6, the distribution and feeding disc 112 includes a solid rounded plate with a set of holes 130. This disc 112 rotates on a supporting base 133 with the material 134 to be packed in it. When the hole 130 with the material 134 in it reaches the dropping point 131 (where the supporting base 133 has a hole and communicates the hole 130 with the feeding tube 113), the material 134 falls into the pouch 140.

In FIG. 7 different alternatives of pouches and hospital supplies packed therein are illustrated. From blister packs of pills, vials, little medicine bottles, medicine bottles & vials, syringes, etc. The range of materials that can be packed with this machine is very ample and the ones illustrated are just some of the possible examples.

The roll of pouches is shown in FIG. 8 that includes a front opaque side 104′, a back crystal side 104″, side longitudinal seals 104 a-104 b and at least one transversal cut per pouch 104 c.

Thus, the packing machine 100 in accordance with the present invention comprises:

a) a receiving unit for receiving a roll of packing film material 104 and placing it on a support able to unwind the roll stock 104; b) a pulling unit capable of pulling from the roll of film 104 by driving pulling cylinders 105-106 at the front of the machine; c) an unwinding unit capable of unwinding the packing film 104 while keeping the proper film tension; d) a reading unit capable of reading a photocell mark included on one side of the film with a photocell reflexive device, and sending a signal to stop the film advance when the mark is read; e) a digital commercial printing device 121 that uses thermal transference technology to print with a ribbon printer, capable of printing medical information of the material to be packed for patient protection (codes, names of drugs, form of presentation, designs, alerts, advice, among others); f) an opening unit to open each pouch 140 by means of an air blow; g) a product dispenser 112 capable of dispensing the product 134 (a drug, vial or cutting a blister pack containing a pill) into the pouch 140 passing through a dropping tube 113 at the same time the mouth is open; and finally h) a sealing unit 114 to seal the upper part and lower part of the pouch 140, cutting with a serrated knife at the same time.

An alternative version of the feeding disc 112 is illustrated in FIG. 9. In this case, the disc is marked as disc 201 that, instead of peripheral holes, includes rounded openings 202. Around the disc 201, a peripheral wall 203 is mounted. And the material to be packed, instead of being loaded manually, it is loaded in a hoper-like device 205 that guides the vials 206 towards the entrance of the disc 201. The shape and size of each rounded opening 202 is complementary to the size and shape of the material to be packed. In this case the diameter of the vial 206 is complementary to the diameter of the opening 202. This disc 201 rotates on a supporting base 208 with the material 206 to be packed in it. When the opening 202 with the material 206 in it reaches the dropping point (where the supporting base 208 has a hole and communicates the hole with the feeding tube 113), the material 206 falls into the pouch 140.

The technical features of the present machine can be summarized as follow:

-   -   Machine with automatic feeding disk for products to be packed         (e.g. pills, doses, etc.).     -   Additional device for automatic loading of vials where operator         can load the device with up to 250 units of product to package.     -   Minimum packaging surface: 60×60 mm     -   Maximum Packing surface: width 150 mm×and 180 mm     -   Automatically packaging of blister packs and vials up to 10 ml.     -   Semi-automatically packaging of some 10 ml ampoules, vials, two         ampoules, ampoules and blister packs of tablets and kits.     -   Brazilian Standard NR12 security system, with components         confirmed in Brazil.     -   Safety system for products.     -   Change time format: 3 minutes.     -   Roll stock time exchange: 1 minute.     -   Color Touch Screen printer.     -   Printing of words in different languages.     -   Touch screen command with 11 alarms.     -   Wheels for easy handling.     -   Electric power: 220 Voltage Alternating Current (VAC), 1300         watts.     -   Footprint: 1.05 m×0.65 m.     -   Necessary space to operate: 2×2 m.     -   Easy control with handle and timer.     -   Open architecture, clean design and easy access.     -   4 distribution discs included for both tablets and ampoules.     -   Productivity: 43 units (packaging and printing) per minute.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, it will be recognized and understood that various modifications can be made in the invention and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A MACHINE FOR PACKING MEDICAL PRODUCTS AND PRINTING MEDICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR A NURSE IN A HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENT, comprising a wheeled chassis on which the following units are installed: a) a roll of pre-made pouches, each of which includes a photocell mark on one side thereof; b) a receiving unit for receiving the roll of pouches and placing it at a support able to unwind the roll of pouches; c) a pulling unit capable of pulling from the roll of pouches by driving pulling cylinders located at the front of machine; d) an unwinding unit capable of unwinding the roll of pouches while keeping the proper roll tension; e) a reading unit capable of reading the photocell mark of the pouches with a photocell reflexive device, and sending a signal to stop the film advance when the mark is read; f) a digital commercial printing device capable of printing medical information of the material to be packed; g) an opening unit to open each pouch by means of an air blow; h) a product dispenser capable of dispensing the product (a drug, vial or cutting the blister pack containing a pill) into the pouch passing by a dropping tube at the same time the mouth is open; and finally i) a sealing unit to seal the upper and lower part of the pouch, cutting with a serrated knife at the same time.
 2. The machine of claim 1, wherein the roll of pre-made pouches comprises a front opaque side on which medical information about the product to be packed is printed, and a crystal side sealed between each other by two longitudinal side seals, including at least one transversal cut per pouch.
 3. The machine of claim 1, wherein each pre-made pouch includes a photocell mark on one side thereof.
 4. The machine of claim 1, wherein the pulling unit comprises two opposing rubber cylinders.
 5. The machine of claim 1, wherein the product dispenser comprises a solid rounded plate with a set of holes, this disc rotates on a supporting base that includes a hole in communication with a feeding tube.
 6. The machine of claim 1, wherein the product dispenser comprises a solid rounded plate with a set of peripheral openings, around this disc a peripheral wall is mounted and a hooper-like device is installed to guide the material to be packed to the dispenser; the disc rotates on a supporting base that includes a hole in communication with a feeding tube.
 7. The machine of claim 1, wherein the digital commercial printing device uses thermal transference technology to print with a ribbon printer medical information of the material to be packed for patient protection.
 8. The machine of claim 6, wherein the medical information printed is at least one of the following: codes, names of drugs, form of presentation, designs, alerts, advice, among others. 